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Blackout: My 40 Years in the Music Business
Since 1976, when the busing riots in Boston sent me scrambling into the radio station at WRBB at Northeastern University, the music industry has been my life. During my very first stint in radio, I was Paul “Pure Love” Porter from midnight to 3 a.m., and I fell in love with the medium of radio and the impact I had on my community. Radio introduced me to women. Radio introduced me to cocaine. Radio introduced me to some of my best friends. And radio killed some of them too. Blackout is a ride through my whirlwind of media jobs, working for and with some of the music industry’s most colorful, well-known and scandalous players. Blackout is an explosive look at the corruption that is running rampant in the industry. And Blackout is an inside account of how corporations erased Black identity from Black radio and mainstream music — and why I chose to fight back.
- GenresMusic
142 pages, Paperback
Published May 31, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 15, 2017
Several nights ago, I was channel surfing when I stopped at CSPAN and watched a portion of the book reading and Q&A session with Paul Porter. The more I listened to what Porter was saying about the business of radio and the state of the entertainment (music) industry (based on his 40 year experience in both worlds), the more I wanted to read his story. So, I bought this book.
Porter spares no punches. He names names and takes the reader through the ups and downs he experienced as one of the top DJs in the business, first in Washington DC with WKYS-FM and WMMJ-FM during the 1980s and later in New York (the No. 1 media market in the country) with WBLS-FM, HOT 97, and KISS-FM in the 1990s and the early 2000s. Along the way, Porter also worked in TV with BET and performed a variety of other roles (e.g. Program Manager) in radio.
As someone who grew up during the late 1960s and into the 1980s with a deep, abiding love and reverence for R&B music and radio, Porter really opened my eyes to the "dark side" of radio and the music industry and how, over the past 30 years, money and ratings increasingly became the sole metrics by which success and longevity in FM radio were measured. Porter for a time, played into some of this aspect of the business, achieving considerable success in terms of wealth and recognition among his peers until he received one day a note from a little girl in which she complained about a popular song that was receiving a lot of airplay in which the rapper proclaimed "I beat that b--- with a bat (Say what?!)" In the words of the little girl: "They keep playing that song on the radio." "... You just don't understand, Mr. Paul. My mom is in the hospital. My father beat her with a bat, and all the kids are teasing me." Porter later met with the girl at her school in Queens, NY and began to put his career in a completely different direction: to promote positive music in radio while at the same time, fighting against the stream of rap music and music videos promoting violence, misogyny, and negativity.
In every business, there is good and bad. And Porter lays it all out across 133 pages. "BLACKOUT" I couldn't put down.
Besides rock and pop music from the likes of Zeppelin, Cream, The Doors, Peter Frampton, Jethro Tull, the Moody Blues, the Steve Miller Band ("Jet Airliner" is one of my fav songs), the Eagles, Hall & Oates, Pablo Cruz, Todd Rundgren, Fleetwood Mac, The Doobie Brothers, Ambrosia et. al, I was also especially attuned when I was coming up - via FM radio - to the romantic and positive, uplifting, and inspirational R&B music from the likes of The Ohio Players, The Isley Brothers, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, The Main Ingredient, The Mighty O'Jays, The Spinners (with Philippe Wynne), Deniece Williams, Minnie Riperton, Chaka Khan & Rufus, The Brothers Johnson, STEVIE WONDER, Chic, LTD (with Jeffrey Osborne), Newbirth, Blue Magic, Curtis Mayfield, WAR, The Whispers, Peabo Bryson, Shalamar (their music was part of the soundtrack of my high school years, which ended with my graduation in June 1982), Sister Sledge, The Manhattans, Luther Vandross, PHYLLIS HYMAN, Alexander O'Neal, Atlantic Starr, Midnight Star, and The Jacksons (and Michael, whose "Off The Wall" album from 1979 is one of my top 5 favorites). As well as the funky and highly innovative music from Parliament Funkadelic, Rick James, the Bar Kays, Patrice Rushen, Kool & The Gang, Cameo, Lakeside, the GAP Band, Swing Out Sister, Steely Dan, and PRINCE. All of that wonderful music helped to shape me on so many levels from childhood to young adulthood. But these days, I don't listen to FM radio anymore. Ever since the early 1990s, I have become largely disenchanted with R&B and rap music on the airwaves. So much so, that I stopped listening to R&B (and rap) music on FM radio about 15 years ago.
Thank you, Paul Porter, for this book. Anyone who has a love for music and radio should read it and share it widely.
Porter spares no punches. He names names and takes the reader through the ups and downs he experienced as one of the top DJs in the business, first in Washington DC with WKYS-FM and WMMJ-FM during the 1980s and later in New York (the No. 1 media market in the country) with WBLS-FM, HOT 97, and KISS-FM in the 1990s and the early 2000s. Along the way, Porter also worked in TV with BET and performed a variety of other roles (e.g. Program Manager) in radio.
As someone who grew up during the late 1960s and into the 1980s with a deep, abiding love and reverence for R&B music and radio, Porter really opened my eyes to the "dark side" of radio and the music industry and how, over the past 30 years, money and ratings increasingly became the sole metrics by which success and longevity in FM radio were measured. Porter for a time, played into some of this aspect of the business, achieving considerable success in terms of wealth and recognition among his peers until he received one day a note from a little girl in which she complained about a popular song that was receiving a lot of airplay in which the rapper proclaimed "I beat that b--- with a bat (Say what?!)" In the words of the little girl: "They keep playing that song on the radio." "... You just don't understand, Mr. Paul. My mom is in the hospital. My father beat her with a bat, and all the kids are teasing me." Porter later met with the girl at her school in Queens, NY and began to put his career in a completely different direction: to promote positive music in radio while at the same time, fighting against the stream of rap music and music videos promoting violence, misogyny, and negativity.
In every business, there is good and bad. And Porter lays it all out across 133 pages. "BLACKOUT" I couldn't put down.
Besides rock and pop music from the likes of Zeppelin, Cream, The Doors, Peter Frampton, Jethro Tull, the Moody Blues, the Steve Miller Band ("Jet Airliner" is one of my fav songs), the Eagles, Hall & Oates, Pablo Cruz, Todd Rundgren, Fleetwood Mac, The Doobie Brothers, Ambrosia et. al, I was also especially attuned when I was coming up - via FM radio - to the romantic and positive, uplifting, and inspirational R&B music from the likes of The Ohio Players, The Isley Brothers, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, The Main Ingredient, The Mighty O'Jays, The Spinners (with Philippe Wynne), Deniece Williams, Minnie Riperton, Chaka Khan & Rufus, The Brothers Johnson, STEVIE WONDER, Chic, LTD (with Jeffrey Osborne), Newbirth, Blue Magic, Curtis Mayfield, WAR, The Whispers, Peabo Bryson, Shalamar (their music was part of the soundtrack of my high school years, which ended with my graduation in June 1982), Sister Sledge, The Manhattans, Luther Vandross, PHYLLIS HYMAN, Alexander O'Neal, Atlantic Starr, Midnight Star, and The Jacksons (and Michael, whose "Off The Wall" album from 1979 is one of my top 5 favorites). As well as the funky and highly innovative music from Parliament Funkadelic, Rick James, the Bar Kays, Patrice Rushen, Kool & The Gang, Cameo, Lakeside, the GAP Band, Swing Out Sister, Steely Dan, and PRINCE. All of that wonderful music helped to shape me on so many levels from childhood to young adulthood. But these days, I don't listen to FM radio anymore. Ever since the early 1990s, I have become largely disenchanted with R&B and rap music on the airwaves. So much so, that I stopped listening to R&B (and rap) music on FM radio about 15 years ago.
Thank you, Paul Porter, for this book. Anyone who has a love for music and radio should read it and share it widely.
July 6, 2017
I will never listen to the radio the same again. I learned a great deal about the industry from this book.
This was an enjoyable recap of the last 40 years in radio through the eyes of someone who did much of his work in the Washington DC market. Living in this area, many of the people and places were familiar and intimate: Classics, Hogates, Video Music Connection, watching the WOL DJ's through the window at 400 H St. NE, KISS w/ Donnie Simpson, the start of Magic 102.3 and BET setting up shop in DC. One things became apparent soon. If your name was mentioned, you'd eventually get toasted. Only a few people were spared as he did not hold back with his opinions on one's voice quality, management style, creativity, or level of shadiness.
Throughout the book he talked about the illegal practice of payola in which labels would provide monetary incentives to get more air time on both radio and TV. He mentioned names of individuals "on the take" and those that were not. Call me naive but I thought this was simply industry practice. Yes, it was unethical and shady, but I didn't know it was illegal. To his credit, he didn't shy away from talking about his personal dealings nor did he hold back the sensitive topic of salary which helped paint a vivid picture into the day to day struggles of the radio jock.
Like me, he was disillusioned with the direction “Black Music” took in the early 90's and went to great lengths identifying the key players and the role that media consolidation played. Unlike me, he stayed tuned in. Apparently BET initially had a decent standard on video content and production quality but eventually went into full sell-out mode. This rise in Gangsta Rap with its vile, violent, misogynistic, and self-hate lyrics coupled with unfiltered, sexually overt, indecent video is when I stopped watching (and still do not). In a very short period, we went from progressive lyrics that fostered pride, social consciousness, and a sense of duty to help one's brother and sister to this garbage. It was either all trash or nothing. There was no balance. In the words of the author, I made sure my "TV" never rested on "BET" (He had used a radio station).
It was a young girl's letter asking Paul to stop playing one of the songs by Rah Digga about beating up some "lady" with a bat by a girl whose mom was beaten with a bat that caused him to take a different direction. I was not surprised to hear about all of the blowback he received when he tried to do right and request that stations be more responsible. It cost him his job!
I was encouraged by his projects mentioned to combat this trend such as Industry Ears and Rap Rehab. I wish this book success as it was able to articulate many of the feelings I possess about the current state of "Black Music". I highly recommend it.
This was an enjoyable recap of the last 40 years in radio through the eyes of someone who did much of his work in the Washington DC market. Living in this area, many of the people and places were familiar and intimate: Classics, Hogates, Video Music Connection, watching the WOL DJ's through the window at 400 H St. NE, KISS w/ Donnie Simpson, the start of Magic 102.3 and BET setting up shop in DC. One things became apparent soon. If your name was mentioned, you'd eventually get toasted. Only a few people were spared as he did not hold back with his opinions on one's voice quality, management style, creativity, or level of shadiness.
Throughout the book he talked about the illegal practice of payola in which labels would provide monetary incentives to get more air time on both radio and TV. He mentioned names of individuals "on the take" and those that were not. Call me naive but I thought this was simply industry practice. Yes, it was unethical and shady, but I didn't know it was illegal. To his credit, he didn't shy away from talking about his personal dealings nor did he hold back the sensitive topic of salary which helped paint a vivid picture into the day to day struggles of the radio jock.
Like me, he was disillusioned with the direction “Black Music” took in the early 90's and went to great lengths identifying the key players and the role that media consolidation played. Unlike me, he stayed tuned in. Apparently BET initially had a decent standard on video content and production quality but eventually went into full sell-out mode. This rise in Gangsta Rap with its vile, violent, misogynistic, and self-hate lyrics coupled with unfiltered, sexually overt, indecent video is when I stopped watching (and still do not). In a very short period, we went from progressive lyrics that fostered pride, social consciousness, and a sense of duty to help one's brother and sister to this garbage. It was either all trash or nothing. There was no balance. In the words of the author, I made sure my "TV" never rested on "BET" (He had used a radio station).
It was a young girl's letter asking Paul to stop playing one of the songs by Rah Digga about beating up some "lady" with a bat by a girl whose mom was beaten with a bat that caused him to take a different direction. I was not surprised to hear about all of the blowback he received when he tried to do right and request that stations be more responsible. It cost him his job!
I was encouraged by his projects mentioned to combat this trend such as Industry Ears and Rap Rehab. I wish this book success as it was able to articulate many of the feelings I possess about the current state of "Black Music". I highly recommend it.
July 26, 2017
"Through commercial rap, young boys were learning to view females as sex objects, while young girls were led to believe that to "get the guy" they had to dress like strippers and embrace titles such as "bitch" or "hoe." Relationships, at least as they were modeled through mainstream rap, did not include romance, love, or courting. But it seemed as no one saw this as a problem."
I was riding in the car from from dinner the other night when the song Ain't No Fun by Snoop Dogg came on the radio, I was in a zone and rapping right along, and then I stopped because the above passage from Blackout crossed my mind. It would have been easy to remember the juicy parts of the book as far as who was and probably still is shady in the radio and music television business as Paul chronicled his career in the industry, but thinking about the impact and impression that modern music leaves on kids stuck with me the most. The above-referenced Snoop song was released when I was in high school and honestly, there was no reason why I should have known all of the lyrics. Music, just like books, tv and movies, can play a major role in how young people think they should behave, especially if parents are not explaining the lyrics to them.
"But after all the conscious talk, what's the final message to listeners when black radio constantly plays music filled with negative messages and stereotypes?"
This quote is an important question raised by Porter. What message are we sending to our young people and to society in general when the songs played on the radio by black artists primarily talk about drugs and sex. After reading this book, it is evident that Paul Porter has earned the right to question what we promote because of his many years in the industry and it is my belief that others should follow his lead. Blackout is an insightful firsthand account about how black music has changed over the years and is a book that should be read by anyone that is interested in what goes on behind the scenes.
I was riding in the car from from dinner the other night when the song Ain't No Fun by Snoop Dogg came on the radio, I was in a zone and rapping right along, and then I stopped because the above passage from Blackout crossed my mind. It would have been easy to remember the juicy parts of the book as far as who was and probably still is shady in the radio and music television business as Paul chronicled his career in the industry, but thinking about the impact and impression that modern music leaves on kids stuck with me the most. The above-referenced Snoop song was released when I was in high school and honestly, there was no reason why I should have known all of the lyrics. Music, just like books, tv and movies, can play a major role in how young people think they should behave, especially if parents are not explaining the lyrics to them.
"But after all the conscious talk, what's the final message to listeners when black radio constantly plays music filled with negative messages and stereotypes?"
This quote is an important question raised by Porter. What message are we sending to our young people and to society in general when the songs played on the radio by black artists primarily talk about drugs and sex. After reading this book, it is evident that Paul Porter has earned the right to question what we promote because of his many years in the industry and it is my belief that others should follow his lead. Blackout is an insightful firsthand account about how black music has changed over the years and is a book that should be read by anyone that is interested in what goes on behind the scenes.
July 6, 2018
Loved it!!
An interesting read. Flows nicely and outlines a useful timeline as to what has happened to black radio and music and it’s descent into a bland homogenised corporate culture. The subsequent effects and degradation of black communities. As a musician who has been and around the industry for a minute...it has helped to connect a good few dots. Highly recommend
An interesting read. Flows nicely and outlines a useful timeline as to what has happened to black radio and music and it’s descent into a bland homogenised corporate culture. The subsequent effects and degradation of black communities. As a musician who has been and around the industry for a minute...it has helped to connect a good few dots. Highly recommend
September 9, 2017
A little girl named, Lea, pierced his consciousness and awakened him to the knowledge that he was serving the spirit of greed, deception and self-service after reading the note she gave him while he was visiting her school. Lea's story was the impetus of reconnecting him to his greater purpose, which was to serve the spirit of integrity and love for his community.
The penalties were high for this "awakening," but he emerged as someone I could respect and model. Not being bought is a familiar test that we all go through, and to watch him evolve as he was being challenged in that area was awe-inspiring. I can't say my mouth dropped when he introduced us to the sellouts he had to dance with in this, often times, pernicious field in order to find himself, but I can say that it made me examine my own life to make sure I look nothing like those piranhas who prey on their own communities and outsiders who do the same in the name of profit and corporate interest.
This book was a stunning account of what people will do for the love of money and so called "power." It has the element of gossip for those who are looking for a luscious, water fountain conversation, but more importantly it imparts the type of courage that is needed to stand for our deepest beliefs when are confronted with losing it all. I highly recommend it for the latter reason.
If you want to l
The penalties were high for this "awakening," but he emerged as someone I could respect and model. Not being bought is a familiar test that we all go through, and to watch him evolve as he was being challenged in that area was awe-inspiring. I can't say my mouth dropped when he introduced us to the sellouts he had to dance with in this, often times, pernicious field in order to find himself, but I can say that it made me examine my own life to make sure I look nothing like those piranhas who prey on their own communities and outsiders who do the same in the name of profit and corporate interest.
This book was a stunning account of what people will do for the love of money and so called "power." It has the element of gossip for those who are looking for a luscious, water fountain conversation, but more importantly it imparts the type of courage that is needed to stand for our deepest beliefs when are confronted with losing it all. I highly recommend it for the latter reason.
If you want to l
October 25, 2017
This book was a great read! As an independent artist I really admire Paul Porters insight into the music industry. I find Paul Porter to be extremely honest when it comes to the good and the bad within the industry.
June 23, 2017
“Blackout” takes readers on a ride through Porter’s whirlwind of media jobs, working for and with some of the music industry’s most colorful, well-known and scandalous players. It explores the insidious role of payola, an illegal practice that is firmly embedded in the music industry, deep in the grooves like tracks on a vinyl record. And it offers an inside account of how corporations killed Black radio and erased Black identity from mainstream Black music — and why Porter chose to fight back.
August 13, 2017
From his upbringing in Queens, where he was friends and neighbors with Nina Simone's husband, to giving back to the community by ensuring that minority youth hear positive messages in hip hop music, Paul Porter has expertly captured his 40 years in the music business in one insightful and entertaining book. Touching on his time as a powerhouse DJ in Washington, D.C., a tastemaker at BET, and an influential voice in NYC radio, Porter shines a bright light on the "pay for play" and payola politics of the radio industry. Porter also makes readers aware of how adult-themed lyrics are having a dangerously negative impact on the minds of today's youth. The candor with which Porter speaks is rare; he doesn't pull any punches in recounting his various experiences in music through the 80s, 90s, 00's and into the 10's. This book is a must-read for anyone considering a career in radio and for artists who are looking to break into the industry.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews